Supplement – April 2021

Home , Frederick Treves (actor), Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Madge Kendal, Mrs Patrick Campbell, William Terriss

Why a supplement?

Not a month went by when, within a day or so of submitting my pieces to the David Parr House, I would stumble across additional information or a picture which would have been perfect. And, what to do with the interesting information that didn’t make my 2020 ‘Afterword’s? Moreover, new discoveries have come to light in the interim.

Shakespeare and the theatre

Southwark Cathedral, London, was William Shakespeare’s parish church when he lived close to the Globe Theatre and where the Bard’s birthday (26th April) is marked every year, making April the perfect month to consider Shakespeare’s impact on David Parr’s late-Victorian and early Edwardian world.

In July’s ‘Afterword’, the influences behind David Parr House - Living room mural and David Parr’s choice of mottos in the trompe decorated ceiling prior to restoration. l’oeil scrolls he painted on his living room Note the trompe l’oeil scroll walls were debated.

He included the ‘Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones and good in everything’, quote from Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy ‘As You Like It’, begging the question: had David Parr seen a particularly memorable performance of the play, inspiring him to include a permanent memento?

Shelley Lockwood, a founding member of the David Parr House team, emailed, ‘I can confirm that David Parr did enjoy trips to the

theatre, as did Frederick Leach’. A scene from ‘As you like it’ Walter Howell Deverell In the 18th century, the rise in Shakespeare’s (1827 – 1854) reputation was reflected in the monuments

created to him, notably, his memorial in Note: Walter Howell Deverell ‘discovered’ Elizabeth Siddall, who became Dante Gabriel Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey, installed Rossetti’s wife. Deverell died while working on in 1740. A benefit performance of ‘Julius his picture depicting a scene from ‘As you like Caesar’ on 28 April 1738 at Drury Lane and it’ and Rossetti finished it so that his family ‘Hamlet’ on 10 April 1739 at Covent Garden wouldn’t lose out financially. contributed to its funding.

English actor, playwright and manager at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, David Garrick (1717 – 1779) staged Shakespeare’s Jubilee in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1769. By the 19th century, Shakespeare’s status as national poet had been consolidated, aided by Garrick’s efforts to raise his profile.

Samuel Johnson: "…his [David Garrick’s] profession made him rich and he made his profession respectable."

David Garrick playing Hamlet David Garrick - detail from an etching of the Image: (cropped) public domain Shakespeare Jubilee he organised - circa 1764 Source: Dramatic Characters, or Different Artist unknown Portraits of the English Stage, 1773 Source: National Portrait Gallery, London

At the beginning of the 19th century, there were only 3 theatres in London: the ‘winter’ theatres of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, and the ‘summer’ theatre of Haymarket. The Old Vic is an example of a theatre that was established outside the city’s boundaries so that new straight plays might be staged. (‘Straight plays’ rely on the spoken word to tell a story ie not musicals).

In 1843, Parliament repealed the Licensing Act of 1737. It was replaced by the Theatres Act of 1843 which allowed straight plays to be produced in all licensed theatres. By 1851, 19 theatres were in operation, and, by 1899, there were 61 theatres across London, 38 of which were in the West End.

Throughout the nineteenth century, many theatres were dominated by actor-managers who awarded themselves plum lead roles. Prime examples of managers who created productions in which they were the star performer are Henry Irving, who managed the Lyceum Theatre from 1871 – 1899, Charles Kean and Herbert Beerbohm Tree. Shakespeare’s plays were often staged because they afforded them greater dramatic roles and recognition, but texts were often cut to maximise their parts and productions were turned into spectacles at the expense of the play.

In the nineteenth century, melodramas, light comedies, operas, Shakespeare and classic English drama, pantomimes, translations of French farces were popular, and, from the 1860s, saw the rise in popularity of French operettas and Victorian burlesque. In 1871, the producer John Hollingshead brought together the librettist W.S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan to create a Christmas entertainment. As Gilbert and Sullivan, their collaboration produced fourteen comic operas. And, in the 1890s, the comedies of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw offered sophisticated social comment whilst proving very popular.

To illustrate the fashion for staging Shakespeare’s plays in late-Victorian London one should follow the Bard’s example and employ a ghost. English actor William Terriss (1847 - 1897), who was seven years older than David Parr, is said to haunt Covent Garden Underground Station and the Adelphi Theatre.

William Terriss – circa 1880 A green plaque at the stage door Ellen Terry as Ophelia in Image: public domain of the Adelphi Theatre. Hamlet - circa 1878 Photographer: Spudgun67 Photographer: Window & Grove Image use: Wikimedia Commons Collection: National Portrait Gallery, London

After unsuccessful starts in other careers, Terriss made his first stage appearance in 1868 and quickly established himself as one of Britain’s most popular actors and appeared at London’s principal theatres from the outset until his death. In 1878, Terriss acted opposite Ellen Terry at the Royal Court Theatre and, in the role of Romeo, he acted opposite another leading actress of the day, Adelaide Neilson, who played Juliet. Two years later, he joined Sir Henry Irving, the great Victorian actor-manager, at the Lyceum Theatre, performing a range of Shakespearean parts such as Cassio (in Othello), Mercutio (in Romeo and Juliet), and Henry VIII – Ellen Terry had already joined Irving in 1878, becoming Britain’s leading Shakespearean and comic actress for the next two decades. Terriss remained with the Lyceum until 1883 before joining the Adelphi Theatre, where he was given leading man roles. At the height of his career, he was stabbed to death by Richard Prince, an out-of-work actor and former colleague, at the stage door of the Adelphi. Cynics are quick to point out that Covent Garden Underground Station opened after Terriss died. However, actors assigned his partner’s, Jessie Millward’s, dressing room at the Adelphi Theatre have heard a ghostly knock on the door. Seemingly, Terriss would rap on the door to signal his arrival at the theatre.

The creator of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and photographer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, (aka Lewis Carroll), described Ellen Terry in her early performances as ‘a beautiful little creature, who played with remarkable ease and spirit’.

Left: Ellen Terry as Puck in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, in 1856.

At his 2015 Oxford Union Address, Stephen Fry (far left) focussed on Oscar Wilde. In an aside, following, he highlights the conditions in which the works of Wilde and Shakespeare were able to thrive:

‘In fact, it’s an odd statistic that during the 19th century more theatres were built in London than had ever been built in the world up until that point and yet there are no theatrical pieces of any virtue or magnificence that were written during that period that last forever except ‘The Importance of Being Ernest’. There are no Victorian masterpieces except that one single play. Everything else is melodramas and comedies that make no sense to us.’ Image: Stephen Fry as ‘Malvolio’ (left) & Mark Rylance as ‘Olivia’ (right) in the Globe’s production of ‘Twelfth Night’, 2012/ Opus Arte

Let us explore David Parr’s late Victorian and early Edwardian world some more but be prepared for controversy, a shocking historical event and a man who had become so deformed he had to be kept hidden from the public’s gaze.

Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) took up amateur dramatics in his spare time. In 1887, at the age of thirty-four, he became manager of the Comedy Theatre, in the West End of London. In the same year, he took up management of the once prestigious Haymarket Theatre with the aim of turning its fortunes around.

With the profits he accumulated at the Haymarket, Tree was able to buy Her Majesty’s Theatre and his position as its manager. It became his home in every sense of the word. The interiors were changed to the grand Louis XV style and it re-opened in 1897. The theatre historian W. J. MacQueen-Pope, wrote: ‘Simply to go to His Majesty's was a thrill. As soon as you entered it, you sensed the atmosphere... In Tree's time it was graced by footmen in powdered wigs and liveries... Everything was in tone, nothing cheap, nothing vulgar.’

Under Tree Her (later His) Majesty's Theatre built an international reputation as the premier British playhouse for staging Shakespeare’s works. Tree mounted sixteen Shakespeare productions. He also established an annual Shakespeare festival from 1905 to 1913 which showcased over two hundred performances by other companies as well as his own. Shakespeare productions had lost money for other theatre companies, but Tree stuck to those which had wide appeal. In 1898, he staged ‘Julius Caesar’ which became a commercial success, ran for 165 consecutive performances and sold 242,000 tickets, quickly followed by two more hits: ‘King John’ and ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’. Tree's longest-running revival, ‘Henry VIII’, ran for 254 consecutive performances from 1 September 1910 to 8 April 1911.

In the BBC TV programme ‘Who do you think you are?’, actress Emilia Fox discovered her great-grandmother was the actress Hilda Hanbury, who joined Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s theatre company and starred with him in his 1894 production of ‘Hamlet’ at the Haymarket Theatre. Furthermore, Hilda and her sister, another actress, were cousins of Ellen Terry.

The popular actress Mrs Patrick Campbell featured in June’s ‘Afterword’. William Morris’s friend, George Bernard Shaw, created the part of Eliza Doolittle for her in his play ‘Pygmalion’. (There’s a strong case that Eliza Doolittle was based on Jane Morris). The play was staged at His Majesty’s Theatre, London, ensuring Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree got to play Professor Higgins.

Mrs Patrick Campbell ‘Pygmalion’ 1938 film poster Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree – as Eliza Doolittle Copyright: it is believed to belong to the circa 1910 – 1915 22nd April 1914 distributor of the film, the publisher of the film Collection & image credit: Image: Sketch Magazine or the graphic artist. United States Library of Congress Usage: educational and being the best (low Collection: Prints and Photographs Division resolution) image to illustrate this piece. V&A Museum, London

The ‘Pygmalion’ rehearsals were stormy. Alan Dent wrote in his biography of Mrs Patrick Campbell, published in 1961, ‘Shaw directed the actors through tempestuous rehearsals often punctuated by at least one of the two storming out of the theatre in a rage.’

Samantha Ellis wrote for The Guardian, published on Wednesday 11th February 2004: ‘Shaw yelled at Tree for being "so damned treacly!" and wrote irate letters. Tree scribbled in his notebook, ‘I will not go so far as to say that all people who write letters of more than eight pages are mad, but it is a curious fact that all madmen write letters of more than eight pages’.’

The play premiered on 11th April 1914. The London Times praised both the characters and actors, especially Sir Herbert Tree as Higgins and Mrs. Patrick Campbell as Eliza, and the happy if ‘unconventional’ ending. It ran for 118 performances. Ellis continued, ‘…Shaw returned for the play's 100th performance, but was horrified to find that Tree had changed the ending; Higgins now threw Eliza a bouquet as the curtain fell, presaging their marriage… "My ending makes money; you ought to be grateful," scrawled Tree. "Your ending is damnable; you ought to be shot," snarled Shaw. Tree would have been pleased to know that the musical, ‘My Fair Lady’, retained and extended his ending.’ After his play was transferred to the silver screen, George Bernard Shaw and the filmscript writers won the 1938 Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay. Shaw responded, "It's an insult for them to offer me any honour, as if they had never heard of me before – and it's very likely they never have. They might as well send some honour to George for being King of England." His friend Mary Pickford later reported seeing the award on display in his home.

Left: Sir Max Beerbohm 1905 William Nicholson Collection: National Portrait Gallery, London

Right: Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Hamlet – circa 1880s- 1890s Photographer: W. & D. Downey Collection: National Portrait Gallery, London

Left: ‘Rossetti & His Circle’ – 1922 Example (a series of 22 cartoons) – Rossetti is in the background and Hall Caine is being pulled up. Max Beerbohm Collection: original artwork bequeathed to the Tate, London, in 1941 by Sir Hugh Walpole

Right: Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Falstaff, Ellen Terry as Mistress Page and Madge Kendal as Mistress Ford - 1902 Charles Buchel Collection: Folger Shakespeare Library

Oscar Wilde: "The gods have bestowed on Max the gift of perpetual old age.”

Sir Max Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20th May 1956) was an essayist and caricaturist. He was the half-brother of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. He took up the position of drama critic for the Saturday Review from 1898 – 1910 after it was relinquished by George Bernard Shaw.

Beerbohm went to Merton College, Oxford. While at Oxford Beerbohm became acquainted with Oscar Wilde and his circle through his half-brother, Herbert. In 1893, he was introduced to Aubrey Beardsley, (both men were born in August 1872), and others connected with the publishing house The Bodley Head. Whilst still an undergraduate, he began submitting articles and caricatures to London publications.

By 1894, he had become a dandy and humourist, and left Oxford without a degree. In 1894, ‘A Defence of Cosmetics’ appeared in the first edition of The Yellow Book, aided by his friend Aubrey Beardsley who was its art editor at the time. In 1895, Beerbohm went to the United States for several months as secretary to his half-brother Herbert Beerbohm Tree's theatrical company. He was fired when he spent far too many hours polishing the business correspondence.

Who wrote Shakespeare?

(Note: the David Parr House maintains a neutral position.)

The blurb on John Michell’s ‘Who Wrote Shakespeare?’, published in 1996, says, ‘Was the most famous poet and writer of all time a fraud and a plagiarist? Was Shakespeare the ‘upstart crow’ described by [Robert] Greene as strutting in borrowed feathers, or [Ben] Jonson’s ‘Poet-Ape’ who patched plays together from others’ work? Was his name merely a pseudonym for a well-known contemporary figure?

The orthodox view is that the author of the works of Shakespeare was, of course, the actor and businessman of Stratford-upon-Avon. But the facts about this man are meagre, and scholars and eccentrics have devoted years to the search for the truth. Some believe that Francis Bacon used the names of an obscure actor to disseminate his philosophy. Others, including Freud, see the Earl of Oxford mirrored in Hamlet. Yet others suggest that Marlowe was not killed in a drunken brawl, but lived on to write secretly as Shakespeare.’

Delia Bacon (1811 – 1859) – May 1853 'William Shakespeare, his method of work' – Daguerreotype – no further information given circa 1904 Max Beerbohm Source: Theodore Bacon’s ‘Delia Bacon: Credit: the Estate of Max Beerbohm A Biographical Sketch published in 1888 Beerbohm’s response to the Shakespeare Theodore Bacon was Delia Bacon’s nephew authorship debate: Shakespeare receiving the manuscript of Hamlet from Bacon.

The theory that the great Elizabethan polymath and statesman Francis Bacon penned Shakespeare’s plays was first brought to public attention by Delia Bacon, an American who spent five years conducting research and preparing her findings for publication.

In 1853, the former teacher and lecturer - whom the American author of ‘The Scarlet Letter’, Nathaniel Hawthorne, described as ‘gifted’ in his book ‘Our Old Home’ – sailed to Liverpool and headed to London armed with letters of introduction. That same year, she accepted an invitation to dine with Thomas Carlyle and his wife, at their home in Chelsea, London. Carlyle listened to her arguments and was impressed by her calm and assured manner, nevertheless, he let out a shriek.

Delia’s brother tried to save his sister from the brutal response he feared her work would provoke by encouraging her to incorporate her research into a work of fiction but to no avail. Having removed herself to Stratford-upon-Avon, Delia had spent too much time in her own company, focusing on her writing. In doing so, she had lost all sense of perspective.

She approached the vicar of Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare was buried, to see if his grave might be opened to see what it contained. In the end, she lost her nerve. In ‘Delia Bacon: A Biographical Sketch’, her nephew, Theodore Bacon, wrote, ‘She went over anew the proofs, the clues, the enigmas, the pregnant sentences, which she had discovered in Bacon’s letters and elsewhere, and now was frightened to perceive that they did not point so definitely to Shakespeare’s tomb as she had supposed.’

There is a link to George Howard, who engaged the services of William Morris, Frederick Leach and David Parr at his London home, no. 1 Palace Green, Kensington. Howard went on to inherit the title of 9th Earl of Carlisle. The 7th Earl, his great uncle, presided at the Shakespeare tercentenary at Stratford in 1864 – he died in December the same year.

A letter penned by Delia, which her nephew included in his sketch, puts a different spin on her request to open Shakespeare’s grave. Delia wrote, ‘…the vicar has consulted a friend who is at the same time a lawyer and a Stratford man… He took my request into consideration and the result was that he found it would not be consistent with the solemn obligation he assumed when he took formally the keys of the church from the wardens of it; to allow for that. It was no want of confidence in me, if Lord Carlisle should make the same request, and he had certainly done a great deal for Stratford, he could only give him the same answer.’

At the head of his grave is written: Good frend for Jesus sake forbeare To digg the dust encloased heare. Bleste be þe man þt spares thes stones And curst be he þt moves my bones.

In modern English it reads: Good friend for Jesus sake forbear To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones And cursed be he that moves my bones. Image credit: David Jones – June 2007

Delia’s obsession and demise reads like a Shakespearian tragedy. Theodore Bacon wrote, ‘…drawn thither [Stratford] by the magnetism of those rich secrets which she supposed to have been hidden by Raleigh, or Bacon, or I know not whom, in Shakespeare’s grave, and protected there by a curse, as pirates used to bury their gold in the guardianship of a fiend. She took a humble lodging and began to haunt the church like a ghost.’

Ralph Waldo Emerson counted amongst Delia Bacon’s influential friends. James Shapiro wrote in his ‘Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?’, published in 2010, ‘Emerson, who greatly admired Bacon, and who was sceptical of her claim, wrote that she would need 'enchanted instruments, nay alchemy itself, to melt into one identity these two reputations'… ‘Though he was intrigued by her insights into the plays, he grew skeptical [sic] of the 'magical cipher' of which Bacon wrote without ever producing evidence for it.

John Michell wrote in his ‘Who Wrote Shakespeare?’, ‘In principle, there is nothing absurd in looking for hidden meanings and word-play in Shakespeare or any other author of his period. Writers from classical times onwards have been fascinated by anagrams, acrostics, word- games and the manipulation of letters… but they are also used for more serious purposes… The Elizabethan poets were often necessarily cryptic. Like all good writers under censorship, they developed a system of codes and allusions to communicate with knowing readers, and they enjoyed stretching their wits with literary puns and puzzles.’

Was the danger real? In 1597, Ben Jonson and Thomas Nashe fell foul of Elizabeth I, but let us consider the fate of playwright Thomas Kyd. On 11 May 1593 the Privy Council ordered the arrest of the authors of ‘divers lewd and mutinous libels’ which had been posted around London. Thomas Kyd was among those arrested. His lodgings were searched. Instead of evidence of the ‘libels’, a tract was found, described as ‘vile heretical conceits denying the eternal deity of Jesus Christ’. It is believed that Kyd was tortured brutally to obtain information. Kyd told authorities the writings found in his possession belonged to Christopher Marlowe, his former roommate and fellow dramatist. Kyd accused Marlowe of being a blasphemous traitor and an atheist. Marlowe was duly summoned by the Privy Council. He was killed in an incident in Deptford involving known government agents while waiting for a decision on his case.

Kyd was eventually released but wasn’t accepted back into the Lord Keeper's service and his efforts to clear his name were, it seems, fruitless. In 1594, he managed to publish ‘Cornelia’, however, Kyd died later that year, aged 35. He was buried on 15 August in St Mary Colechurch in London. The church was destroyed in the Great Fire, thereby, Thomas Kyd's grave was lost.

A version of ‘Hamlet’, referred to as ‘Ur-Hamlet’, of which there is no extant copy but is known to have a character named ‘Hamlet’ and a ghost demanding for revenge, is believed by scholars to pre-date Shakespeare’s play and to have been written by Kyd.

In his piece on Max Beerbohm for The New Yorker, titled ‘The Comparable Max’, Adam Gopnik wrote, ‘Though geniality is the mood, malice was the savory [sic] ingredient… Watching Sarah Bernhardt perform in French to rapturous audiences provoked him to write a sort of angry exposé, ‘Hamlet, Princess of Denmark,’ (Not atypically for the period, there could often be an unhappy vein of misogyny in Max’s brand of malice.)’ Published on 3rd August 2015.

Left: Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet – June 1899 Image credit: United States Library of Congress

Above: Shakespeare or Bacon - 1885 Alfred Edward Emslie (1848 – 1918) Collection: unknown Image credit: Leicester Galleries

Described as a satirical painting about Baconian theory. An enthusiastic Stratfordian holds a bust of Shakespeare and is apparently threatening the man carving bacon.

Right: the title page of Cryptomenytices et Cryptographiae by Gustavus Selenus.

Baconians have argued that the page depicts Bacon writing the plays (bottom panel), giving them to a middle-man, who passes them to Shakespeare (the man holding a spear in the middle-left panel).

Trafalgar Square, by Moonlight – 1865 Northumberland House – 1874 Henry Pether Image source: The Guardian, 2016 Collection: Museum of London Northumberland House is on the left

Above right: Northumberland House on the Strand, shortly before it was demolished in 1874 (twenty years after David Parr was born). It stood next to York House, where Francis Bacon grew up and where he subsequently lived as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and Lord High Chancellor, 1617-1621.

As related by John Michell, ‘In 1867 a significant link between the names of Bacon and Shakespeare was discovered in the London house of the Duke of Northumberland. The discovery was of twenty-two old manuscript sheets, folded in half for binding and enclosed by another sheet cover… It seemed to have come from the office of Francis Bacon, for most of the enclosed writings were his, and his name was on the top, right-hand side of the cover. It could have belonged to Bacon’s nephew and close associate, Sir Henry Neville, whose name headed the left-hand column, with his punning motto, Ne vile velis, repeated below it. The manuscript dated around 1596…’

Above Left: Detail of the Northumberland Manuscript Image credit: creativepsychotherapy.info website Above Right: Legal document relating to the purchase of the Gatehouse of the former Dominican priory in Blackfriars, London by William Shakespeare and three associates. Image: The British Library, London

Baconians have made much of the Northumberland Manuscript, and it is certainly curious to find the names of respective works of Bacon and Shakespeare so closely and uniquely associated. It is a great mystery, but unfortunately it does not prove anything.’

Bringing the Shakespeare authorship debate closer to the periphery of David Parr’s world…

Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s friend, the poet Algernon Swinburne, wrote ‘A Study of Shakespeare’. Edmund Gosse provided the preface for the 1918 edition. He wrote, ‘…In a letter to me (January 31, 1875), Swinburne said: ‘I am now at work on my long-designed essay or study on the metrical progress or development of Shakespeare, as traceable by ear and not by finger, and the general changes of tone and stages of mind expressed or involved in this change or progress of style.’ The book was produced at the moment when controversy with regard to the internal evidence of composition in the writings attributed to Shakespeare was raging high, and the amusing appendices were added at the last moment that they might infuriate the pedants of the New Shakespeare Society. They amply fulfilled that amiable purpose.’

When Dante Gabriel Rossetti lived next to Blackfriars Bridge, his chambers were within spitting distance of where the Blackfriars theatres had stood in Shakespeare’s time and plays had been performed to royalty. Shakespeare’s connection to the area can be evidenced by a legal document held at The British Library which shows that, in March 1613, the man from Stratford and three associates had purchased the Gatehouse of the former Dominican priory.

Some interesting asides…

Sir Frederick Treves – 1896 Filmposter for ‘The Elephant Madge Kendal as Lady Giovanna in Luke Fildes Man’ Tennyson's ‘The Falcon’ – 1879 Reduced replica Designer: no known Valentine Cameron Prinsep Collection: Image credit: impawards Collection: The Garrick Club National Portrait Gallery, London Image use: educational and being Presented by the artist’s widow in the best image to illustrate this piece. 1905

(Note: the following quotes reflect the times, those before political correctness)

The actress Dame Madge Kendal (née Margaret Robinson, 1848 - 1935), who played opposite Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s Falstaff and Ellen Terry’s Mistress Page, wrote in her autobiography, ‘In 1886 the sympathies of both my husband and myself were deeply stirred by a case which attracted considerable amount of attention and is known in medical annals as ‘The Elephant Man’. His name was John [Joseph] Merrick and his deformity was so terrible that Sir, then Mr. Frederick Treves, who had charge of the case when, later, it was admitted to the London Hospital, has described him in the following terms: He was the most disgusting specimen of humanity that I have ever seen in the course of my profession…

In spite of this, he was exhibited as a monstrosity near the hospital until the show was banned in London, when he was taken to Brussels and shown to the public until the police again interfered. Then he was given a ticket to London and arrived at Liverpool Street… The chance that he had been seen professionally by Mr. Treves before he was sent to Brussels and still had that gentleman’s card in his possession caused the distinguished surgeon to be sent for…

My husband saw Merrick at the London Hospital… “Wouldn’t they let him remain in the hospital,” I asked, “if the money were raised for his keep?” I did raise the money and no one knew anything about my association with the case until the money was obtained and Merrick was duly installed in two rooms…’

The stage play, which premiered in London, in 1977, and David Lynch’s film took some necessary liberties with the events of Joseph Merrick’s life. For example, Madge Kendal is one of the main characters yet there is nothing in her autobiography to indicate she ever met Merrick. That said, they had conducted an exchange of letters.

Madge Kendall wrote, ‘My husband and I always considered it a great privilege to be allowed to soothe his suffering. He was most appreciative of everything I had done for him and expressed his gratitude in several letters to me… In the museum in which his skeleton hangs there is preserved a beautiful model of a Gothic Church which he made and presented to me and I thought should be preserved by the hospital.

In September 2020’s ‘Afterword’, readers were invited to speculate why William Morris was drawn to Mainz. Morris visited the city in 1859 on his honeymoon tour. It is surely no leap that the man who went on to create his own font and formed the Kelmscott Press, which produced a magnificent series of books, should want to see the city where Johannes Gutenberg had developed the moveable-type printing press, allowing mass printing.

Replica of the cathedral of Mainz, John Hurt as ‘The Elephant Man’ - 1980 Germany, made by Joseph Merrick Director: David Lynch Collection: Royal London Hospital Museum Image credit: The Telegraph Presented by Dame Madge Kendal Image use: educational and being the best image to illustrate Image: Jack1956 – 27 March 2008 this piece.

Mainz Cathedral, Germany Image: still from a film by ZDF enterprises GmbH, Mainz – as posted on the Britannica.com website

Continuing with this supplement’s ‘Shakespeare’ theme and attendant ‘theatre’ theme, the following episode in Joseph Merrick’s unhappy life, as related by Madge Kendal in her biography, illustrates that he had moments of joy: ‘His burning ambition, as related by Sir Frederick [Treves], was to go to the theatre. A pantomime was running at Drury Lane, but how so conspicuous a being as he was to be got there, how he was to see the performance without attracting the notice of the audience and causing an unpleasant sensation was the problem… I went to see the Baroness Burdett-Coutts and asked her to let me have the use of her box for the purpose. The Baroness asked if I would be responsible for what might happen to any woman who might see Merrick. I assured her that such arrangements would be made that no one would see him either going to and from the theatre or while he was in the box.

This undertaking was scrupulously carried out, for Sir Frederick writes: ‘Merrick was brought in a carriage with drawn blinds and allowed to make use of the royal entrance and so to reach the royal box by the private stairs. Three of the hospital sisters in evening dress sat in the front row to ‘dress’ the box and form a screen, and Merrick and I were at the back. He was awed and enthralled…’

Actors Anthony Hopkins and Wendy Hiller in a scene from David Lynch’s 1980 film ‘The Elephant Man’. The film was re-leased in March 2020, marking 40 years since its original release.

< Wendy Hiller played Eliza Doolittle in the 1938 film ‘Pygmalion’. Image use: educational and being the best image to illustrate this piece.

Let’s play Six Degrees of Separation!

Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six, or fewer, social connections away from each other, applying this rule we can connect David Parr and Frederick Leach to Joseph Merrick in 5 degrees.

David Parr > William Morris > George Frederic Ellen Terry > Madge Kendal > Joseph Merrick Frederick> Watts > Leach

Note: George Frederic Watts painted William Morris’s portrait and was briefly married to Ellen Terry. As stated in this supplement, Ellen Terry and Madge Kendal shared the stage and Kendal was Merrick’s pen friend.

Or one could swap Ellen Terry with Val Prinsep, who painted Madge Kendal and was a friend of G. F. Watts.

Or, if one jumped from Madge Kendal to her husband then to Joseph Merrick, thereby employing an extra degree, the connections are all in person.

Edwin Booth as Hamlet – circa 1870 Edwin Booth - 1890 Photographer: J. Gurney & Son N.Y. John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) Image: in public domain Collection and image credit: Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas

The actor Edwin Thomas Booth (1833 – June 7, 1893) was considered by many to have been the greatest American actor and the greatest Prince Hamlet of the 19th century.

He toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing in Shakespeare’s plays. His achievements are often overshadowed by the heinous crime committed by his younger brother, actor John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln on 14th April 1865. News of President Lincoln’s assassination could not have escaped Frederick Leach or the young David Parr.

In an ironical twist of fate, Edwin Booth saved Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert, from serious injury or even death. The incident occurred on a train platform in Jersey City, New Jersey. Robert Lincoln relayed the incident in a letter, written in 1909:

‘The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car… there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn… the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat… into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him...’

Booth did not know the identity of the man whose life he had saved until some months later when he received a letter from Colonel Adam Badeau, who gave his compliments to Booth for the heroic deed. According to author John S. Goff (after author Eleanor Ruggles), ‘It was said that this rescue gave the great Edwin Booth some comfort in the troubled time that followed his brother’s insane action.’

On the Tate’s website, the information accompanying Walter Greaves’ ‘The Green Dress’ says, ‘The unusual dress is a Victorian revival of Elizabethan fashion.’

This is evidenced in paintings produced by Val Prinsep and Marie Spartali Stillman, and the images taken by photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, (1815 – 1879). They were all ‘Holland Park Circle’ artists.

In ‘Chelsea Reach: the brutal friendship of Whistler and Walter Greaves’, published in 1970, Tom Pocock wrote, ‘The Green Dress. Eliza Greaves painted in oils by her brother wearing a Tudor-style dress which changed The Green Dress – The Mandolin Player - date ? colour from the blue that Whistler claimed as circa 1875 Valentine Cameron Prinsep his own so that its exhibition was regarded as Walter Greaves Collection: unknown. an act of betrayal.’ Collection: Image credit: Sotheby’s

Tate, London 15/07/08 – public domain

Left: On a Balcony, self- portrait – 1874 Marie Spartali Stillman Collection: not known Image: Artnet website

Right: Saint Barbara 1865/1890 Marie Spartali Stillman Collection & image credit: High Museum of Arts Atlanta, USA

Left: Valentine (or Val) Cameron Prinsep dressed as Henry VIII - September 1874 Julia Margaret Cameron Collection: Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Right: Hypatia – 1867 Model: Marie Spartali Stillman Julia Margaret Cameron Collection: Victoria & Albert Museum,

London

Photograph of E.W. Godwin dressed as a Friar ^ The Yellow Book vol. iv with other actors dressed as Foresters in a woodland setting Published: 1895 Date: late nineteenth century Image: public domain Photographer: not credited Image source: internet Collection: Victoria & Albert Museum, London archive.org

The Yellow Book’s fourth edition, published in January 1895, included Max Beerbohm’s essay ‘1880’. He wrote, ‘I suppose that there is no one, however, optimistic that has not wished, from time to time, that he had been born into some other age than this… I have often felt that it would have been nice to live in that bygone epoch when society was first inducted into the mysteries of art, and not losing yet its old and elegant tenue, first babbled of blue china and white lilies, and of the painter Rossetti and of the poet Swinburne. It would have been a fine thing to see the tableaux at Cromwell House or the Pastoral Plays at Coombe Wood, to have strained my eyes for a glimpse of the Jersey Lily, clapped holes in my gloves for Connie Gilchrist, and danced all night long to the strains of the Manola Valse. The period of 1880 must have been delicious… Of the purely aesthetic fads of Society were also the Pastoral Plays at Coombe Wood, and a very charming fad they must have been. There was one specially [sic] great occasion when Shakespeare’s play, ‘As You Like It,’ was given. The day was hot as a June day can be, and everyone drove down in open carriages and hansoms, and in the evening returned in the same way. It was the Derby Day of aestheticism. “To every character in the play was given a perfectly appropriate attire, and the brown and green of their costumes harmonised exquisitely with the ferns through which they wandered, the trees beneath which they lay, and the lovely English landscape that surrounded the Pastoral Players.” It must have been a proud day for the Lady Archibald Campbell, who gave this fête, and for E. W. Godwin, who directed its giving.’

The artist James McNeill Whistler was known for his cutting wit and put downs. However, upon the death of E. W. Godwin, he had acted with great sensitivity. According to the exhibition catalogue ‘E. W. Godwin: Aesthetic Movement Architect and Designer’, published in 1999 and edited by Susan Weber Soros, he asked Louise Jopling to ‘tell Ellen Terry the news of Godwin’s death, before she read it in the newspapers. “When I told her,” wrote Louise Jopling, “I shall never forget her cry: ‘There was no one like him.’”

The actress Ellen Terry had left her husband the artist George Frederic Watts for Godwin. Together they had two children, but he would leave her for Beatrice/Beatrix Philip, whom he married. After Godwin died, Beatrice went on to marry James McNeill Whistler.

Lady Archibald Campbell’s husband was Princess Louise’s brother-in-law, ensuring the Prince of Wales attended the production of ‘As You Like It’ at Coombe Wood.

She first met E. W. Godwin as she was having her portrait painted by Whistler. They discussed open-air plays and Godwin ‘set to work upon his note book, [sic] and cutting up two copies of the complete edition of ‘As You Like It’, he pasted the pages in his notebook, designing the dresses as he came to each character.’

Susan Weber Soros wrote, ‘As so often happens with the organization of semi-professional events, unexpected problems abounded, ranging from demands for money to complaints from cross musicians concerning the abusive conductor…’

Arrangement in Black (The Lady in the Yellow Buskin) - 1883 - Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell James McNeill Whistler Collection and image: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA

Left: Helen Carte Photo by Marc Gambier in New York, c. 1885. Published on 1st May 1901 in ‘The Sketch’, London Image: Public Domain

Right: Helen Carte – c. 1885 Walter Richard Sickert Collection: private Image: Christie’s – June 2002

Helen Lenoir was born Helen Black and was later known by her married name, Helen Carte, or, incorrectly, Helen D’Oyly Carte. ‘Helen Lenoir’ had been her stage name.

In 1877, she became Richard D'Oyly Carte’s assistant and later his second wife – he was an impresario and hotelier. Even before his health went into decline, she took on many duties connected to D’Oyly Carte’s business, which required her to make numerous transatlantic crossings. She took over stewardship of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and the Savoy Hotel from the end of the 19th century and into the early 20th century.

She helped produce the Savoy Operas, including those written by Gilbert and Sullivan, beginning with The Sorcerer in 1877 – William Morris attended a production of ‘The Sorcerer’ in the company of the Burne-Joneses and with hands stained blue from handling indigo dye.

The Cartes were acquaintances of James McNeill Whistler, who contributed to the decorative scheme in their home, and Helen supervised Whistler’s ‘Ten o’clock’ lecture at the Prince’s Hall, London, and Oscar Wilde’s tour of America.

Linda Merrill wrote in her book, ‘The Peacock Room: A Cultural Biography’, ‘Helen Lenoir, who asked to see the Peacock Room in the 1880’s, told Whistler she thought Leyland could hardly refuse to grant admission, and it appears he rarely did…’

The Concert / The Music Party - Charles Fairfax Murray – first exhibited in 1890 then placed by Thomas Collcutt in the foyer of his new Palace Theatre built for Rupert D’Oyly Carte. Further details not known.

Or, is the above painting The Concert? Details not known.

David B Elliot uses ‘The Concert’ and ‘The Music Party’ when referring to the same painting in his biography of his grandfather, Charles Fairfax Murray. Both images came up when searching on the web for ‘The Concert’, ‘The Music Party’ and ‘Charles Fairfax Murray’ but neither image was accompanied by details ie which collections hold them or whether they are in private ownership or the dates they were completed.

According to Christie’s website, they auctioned preparatory sketches for ‘The Music Party’ in 1991. Princetown University Art Museum, New Jersey, holds a collection of Murray’s sketches but the accompanying information does not suggest the titles of any paintings in which they were incorporated.

Images and collection of Charles Fairfax Murray’s sketches: Princeton University Art Museum

David Parr House, living room mural – photograph taken during the renovations. Image credit: F. A. Valiant & Sons Ltd

David Parr (1854 – 1927) painted his living room mural in 1912. As mentioned at the start of this piece, he included a quote from Shakespeare’s comedy ‘As You Like It’. If he saw the play, where did he see it?

In 1737, the University of Cambridge enforced an act which forbade the performance of all plays and operas within five miles of the town. Even so, at different times, there were three theatres on Newmarket road, then on the edge of town. The last one closed in 1878, when Parr was twenty-four years old.

On Monday 20th January 1896, following the derestriction of productions during term time, Herbert Beerbohm Tree laid the foundation stone of the New Theatre which stood on St. Andrews Street, Cambridge. It was decorated throughout in the style of the Renaissance. There were representations of Shakespeare's heroes and heroines of comedy on one side of the auditorium, and the heroes and heroines of tragedy on the other. Yet, the Arthur Lloyd website doesn’t cite any plays by Shakespeare among the early productions.

The Marlowe Society - the Cambridge University theatre club for students - was formed in 1907 by Justin Brooke and other students with the intention of performing historical plays and to revive Shakespeare in Cambridge, where his plays hadn’t been performed since 1886. The first play the Society staged was Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’ in January 1907 at the ADC Theatre. Their first Shakespeare production was ‘Richard II’ in August 1910 at the Victoria Assembly Rooms and the second was ‘Henry IV, Part One’ in June 1919 at the ADC Theatre. The audience had to wait until February 1930 to see Part Two. ‘As You Like It’ wasn’t performed until March 1957 at the Arts Theatre.

The Arts Theatre in Cambridge wasn’t founded until 1936 and the George Hotel in Huntingdon didn’t commence being a venue for productions of Shakespeare’s plays until 1959, ruling out these two venues.

Advertisement reproduction of the ‘Woodnotes’ wallpaper designed by Walter Crane – ca 1880 - 1915 & Detail of the text

Collection: Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Illustration from ‘Morte d’ Arthur’ Detail from ‘Morte d’ Arthur’ illustration Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Beardsley Published by J. M. Dent & Co in 1893 Published by J. M. Dent & Co in 1893 Image: public domain Image: public domain

What if… the inclusion of Shakespeare’s ‘Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones and good in everything’ quote in David Parr’s mural wasn’t meant to serve as a reminder of a memorable production he had seen, but was his response to an advertisement placed by the artist Walter Crane? Or, was it a case of great minds think alike?

Crane’s advertisement features lines from a song in ‘As You Like It’: ‘Under the greenwood tree, who loves to lie with me, and turn his merry note, unto the sweet birds [sic] throat’, in large font.

If Walter Crane’s complex, swirling wallpaper design could be allied to Shakespeare’s work, then Parr’s magnificent mural is more than worthy.

Was Crane evoking the halcyon days of the Pastoral Plays at Coombe Wood in his wallpaper design?

And, what of the Pan figure in both Crane’s work and Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations? Beardsley provided the cover illustration for Arthur Machen’s (horror genre) novella ‘The Great God Pan’, published in 1894. However, his inclusion of Pan and fauns in the illustrations he produced for the ‘Morte d’ Arthur’, a Christian-themed text published in 1893, is considered decidedly odd.

In the late 18th century, interest in Pan was revived among liberal scholars and, in the late 19th century, Pan became an increasingly common figure in literature and art. In her study, ‘Pan the Goat-God: his Myth in Modern Times’, published in 1969, Patricia Merivale states that between 1890 and 1926 there was an ‘astonishing resurgence of interest in the Pan motif’.

Illustration of Pan Cover illustration for Illustration of Peter Pan Cover illustration for Walter Crane ‘The Great God Pan’ F. D. Bedford the first edition of Image source: ‘The story of Aubrey Beardsley Source: ‘Peter and ‘The Wind in the Greece: told to boys and Published: 1894 Wendy’, published in Willows’ girls’, by Mary MacGregor Image: public domain 1911. Published: 1908 published in 191? No date ‘The Great God Pan’ Peter Pan appeared as a Illustrator: not known in publication. was considered one of character in ‘The Little Image: public domain Image: public domain the greatest horror White Bird’, 1902. stories ever written not Image: public domain least by Stephen King.

Closing images…

The Saloon Bar at the Theatre Royal, The Rehearsal, Drury Lane Drury Lane Clare Atwood (1866 – 1962) Clare Atwood (1866 – 1962)

Collection: Collection: National Trust, Smallhythe Place – National Trust, Fenton House Ellen Terry’s former home Image: National Trust Image: National Trust